March 2009 Newsletter

March 2nd, 2009 by Art Zemon

From the February Meeting

Erik Kientzy gave a very informative and surprisingly entertaining presentation on FAA enforcement actions. Erik is an attorney in private practice in St. Louis, specializing in aviation law. He can be reached at (314)968-4031. A few highlights from his talk were:

If you are ever approached by an FAA official and asked for your certificate, what do you do? Refuse? Hand him the certificate? Or let him see it but refuse to let go because letting go can be interpreted as surrendering your certificate to the FAA? This one is easy; you should hand over the certificate. It will not be interpreted as surrendering your ticket; that’s an urban myth. See FAR 61.27. You are under two legal requirements regarding paperwork: 1) to show your certificate and medical upon request, and 2) to produce your logbooks within a reasonable period of time.

In an FAA investigation, the “rights” which you may think you have from watching cop shows on TV do not apply. Since it is an administrative investigation and not police work, no one needs to advise you of your rights, etc. The inspector is not even required to tell you that you are under investigation! The FAA inspectors are trained to put you at ease so that you will talk to them (even though doing so may not be in your best interest). The inspectors will also be looking for mitigating or aggravating circumstances, including your attitude.

If you receive a violation, it will remain on your record for five years. Warnings stay on your record for two years. You should follow up with the FAA after that period to confirm that the violation or warning has been removed.

As a general rule of thumb, when talking to an FAA investigator, be cautious if the conversation turns to events in the past.

NASA ASRS forms are Very Good Things. They are not real Get Out of Jail Free cards but they can be invaluable if you meet the immunity requirements. Do file them either electronically or on paper. Even more important: hang onto the ID strip but don’t write something self-incriminating on the slip like, “ran out of gas.”

February Meeting

The Tuesday, March 10, 2009 meeting will be at The Columns. Our guest speaker will be Ray Kerr, Spirit of St. Louis airport tower chief.

Phone your dinner reservations to Jean Murry at (314)469-3541.

Upcoming Events

You can always find the latest list of upcoming MPA events on our web site at http://gatewaypilots.org/upcoming-events/.

This year, all meetings on are the third Wednesday of the month except in December. See the upcoming events page for weather minimums and times.

May 14 Chapter Meeting (Joe Dobronski) The Columns
May 17 Flyout Marion IL (MWA) - Sergio's Restaurant
June ? Picnic Kilroys (KSET)
June 14 Flyout Litchfield IL (3LF)
July 19 Flyout Gastons AR (3MO)
July 22 Chapter Meeting (Gary Liming, History of Beasly Aircraft) The Columns
Aug. 12 Chapter Meeting (Jeff Edwards, Aircraft Accident Investigation) The Columns
Aug. 16 Flyout Casey IL (1H8) - Richard's Farm Restaurant
Aug. 29-30 Smartt Field Open House KSET
Sept. 6 Flyout Labor Day - Old Sttlers and Threshers Reunion - Mt. Pleasant IA
Sept. 9 Chapter Meeting (Fred Schieszer, Warrensburg College) The Columns
Sept. 20 Flyout Jefferson City (JEF) - Nick's Restaurant
Oct. 14 Chapter Meeting (Libby Yunger, 100 years of women in aviation 1909-2009) The Columns
Oct. 18 Flyout Lake Barkley KY (1M9)
Nov. 11 Chapter Meeting (Bill Hopper, Learning To Fly Helicopters, The Challenges and Rewards) The Columns
Nov. 15 Flyout Quincy IL (UIN)
Dec. 9 Chapter Meeting / Christmas Party The Columns
Dec. 12 Flyout St. Charles County (Smartt) (SET) - Kilroy's Restaurant

Gateway Pilots Web Site

Did you know that there are good things on the web site that did not make it into the newsletter? Drop by www.GatewayPilots.org.

February 2009 Newsletter

February 1st, 2009 by Art Zemon

From the January Meeting

Jim Kramper

Jim Kramper

Jim Kramper spoke on the sources of global warming and discussed the various natural sources and human sources.  Global warming is seen best if the entire earth temperature is monitored. The smaller the area examined the greater the variation in year-to-year temperature.  For example in the St Louis area, only three of the hottest years have occurred since 1990, and one of the 10 hottest years was in 1900, while globally most of the 10 hottest years have occurred since 1990. He emphasized that the interactions between these various sources of global warming are very complex.  However, human activity is a major source of the increase in atmospheric CO2, both form the use of fossil fuels and from the destruction of rain forest and other heavily forested areas which are a sink for CO2 and the production of O2.  Human activity to reduce carbon emissions, recycle, and generally clean up our planet and the atmosphere will have positive effects on the health of the planet and may slow the process of global warming.  There was a long question and answer period after the talk in which the myths about the sources of St. Louis weather, weather balloons, how forecasts are generated, etc.  It was a really informative and lively talk and discussion.

February Meeting

The Wednesday, February 11, 2009 meeting will be at The Columns. Erik Kientzy will talk about FAA Enforcement action.

Phone your dinner reservations to Jean Murry at (314)469-3541.

Safety Tip

The recent crash of US Air Airbus 320, brought down by a flock of geese, should remind us how important good training is. These pilots fly every day, and every 6 month they go through a training program of emergencies that they don’t get to see in normal flight. So wouldn’t it be a good idea for us to have a training program that fits our individual flying activities? THINK ABOUT IT. Rick  adv.av.training@sbcglobal.net

Upcoming Events

You can always find the latest list of upcoming MPA events on our web site at http://gatewaypilots.org/upcoming-events/.

This year, all meetings on are the third Wednesday of the month except in December. See the upcoming events page for weather minimums and times.

May 14 Chapter Meeting (Joe Dobronski) The Columns
May 17 Flyout Marion IL (MWA) - Sergio's Restaurant
June ? Picnic Kilroys (KSET)
June 14 Flyout Litchfield IL (3LF)
July 19 Flyout Gastons AR (3MO)
July 22 Chapter Meeting (Gary Liming, History of Beasly Aircraft) The Columns
Aug. 12 Chapter Meeting (Jeff Edwards, Aircraft Accident Investigation) The Columns
Aug. 16 Flyout Casey IL (1H8) - Richard's Farm Restaurant
Aug. 29-30 Smartt Field Open House KSET
Sept. 6 Flyout Labor Day - Old Sttlers and Threshers Reunion - Mt. Pleasant IA
Sept. 9 Chapter Meeting (Fred Schieszer, Warrensburg College) The Columns
Sept. 20 Flyout Jefferson City (JEF) - Nick's Restaurant
Oct. 14 Chapter Meeting (Libby Yunger, 100 years of women in aviation 1909-2009) The Columns
Oct. 18 Flyout Lake Barkley KY (1M9)
Nov. 11 Chapter Meeting (Bill Hopper, Learning To Fly Helicopters, The Challenges and Rewards) The Columns
Nov. 15 Flyout Quincy IL (UIN)
Dec. 9 Chapter Meeting / Christmas Party The Columns
Dec. 12 Flyout St. Charles County (Smartt) (SET) - Kilroy's Restaurant

Gateway Pilots Web Site

Did you know that there are good things on the web site that did not make it into the newsletter? Drop by www.GatewayPilots.org.

Watch Out: Branson Airport Identifiers

January 15th, 2009 by Art Zemon

Are you flying to the new Branson Airport? What you call it will depend on whether you are flying yourself or flying commercially. Be careful; Branson is BKG if you are buying an airline ticket but BBG if you are plugging it into your GPS or filing a flight plan.

Aero-News Network describes this fully in Branson’s Passenger Code Differs From FAA Identifier.

Officials with the Branson Airport, the first privately developed and operated commercial service airport in the US, announced this week the airport’s official three-letter designation for purchasing airline tickets will be… BKG.

Travelers may use the code to identify the Branson Airport when they wish to book a flight… but if you’re a pilot, don’t use it to enter Branson as your destination into a GPS.

The FAA assigned Branson the code BBG in the summer of 2008 and is the official code for pilots to reference when flying into the airport. However, the International Air Transport Association, which assigns consumer codes to airports, previously assigned the BBG code to Butaritari Airport, in the Pacific Ocean.

Since the BBG designation was already allocated, the consumer designation BKG was assigned to Branson Airport on December 8, 2008.

“We want to make sure there is no confusion when customers book flights into and out of Branson Airport,” said Gene Conrad, Deputy Airport Director. “Going forward, when passengers see the letters BKG, they’ll know it stands for Branson, and a unique flying experience unlike any they’ve ever had.”

Pilots should continue to use BBG as the code for the Branson Airport, which opens for business May 11, 2009.

Thanks for Bob Linenweber for pointing this out.